The contest is open to all young people aged 18-30 around the world and shortlisted essays will be featured on the World Bank Y2Y website[3].

For those young people that are reading this and interested in the web, I'd recommend you look at the essay questions and see how the web has facilitated entrepreneurship, particularly in a time of crisis. After all, many of the largest and most influential web properties today were created (and are still managed by) young people around the world: Facebook[4], Tumblr[5], TakingITGlobal[6], to name a few.

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The questions for the essay competition don't directly address the role of the web in business and innovation, but the connections can be easily made:

What impedes young people in your country or community to start their own business or organization? Think about the constraints in terms of socio-economic conditions, culture, education & experience, access to finance & infrastructure, contacts & networks, and regulations. In how far are these constraints specific to youth compared to adults?

Did the global financial crisis reinforce some of these constraints? If yes, what are the dynamics?

What do you think governments can/should do to strengthen youth entrepreneurship in your country, town or local community? Think about the solutions in terms of the constraints identified above.

If you decide to submit an essay to the competition that talks about the web's role in youth entrepreneurship and want to share it with the readers of Inside the Web[8], let us know in the comments. We'd love to share your ideas.

You can find more details about the rules and prizes on the essay competition webpage[2]. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your ideas and solutions.